


Lost and found

by Aamukaste



Series: Whumptober2019 [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Day 11, Dehydration, Gen, M/M, Pirate Captain!Raphael, Pirate!AU, Soldier!Alec, This is really light despite the dehydration part, also Jace is sort of kind of presumed dead for like half of it, extensive description of dehydration, pirate!jace, pirate!magnus, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 01:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20986730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aamukaste/pseuds/Aamukaste
Summary: Another AU no one asked for, because I live for that stuff.Alec is marooned at sea after standing up to his Captain and refusing to torture a captured pirate. He is dying of severe dehydration when the aforementioned pirate swoops in to rescue him.So Alec is rescued by a handsome stranger, invited to join a crew of misfits and is also reunited with his not-so-dead brother.Raphael is mentioned like once, but he doesn't really make an appearance.Fair warning, there is a whole page describing Alec think that he is dying of dehydration and starvation, but all in all it's as light-hearted as my other fill for Whumptober.This is part of Whumptober 2019. Also, I have a lot of feelings about the bond that Alec and Jace share.





	Lost and found

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Whumptober 2019, prompt 4) Dehydration.  
I'm trying to up my writing and not get carried away with the set up for each story, but that's sort of hard, so, uh, bear with me? Of course, I also can't get enough of our precious boys, so who cares.  
One day, I swear, I'll finally write something that's not gen, but I haven't graduated there yet.
> 
> Raphael’s ship is called Munkar.  
Hodge’s ship is called Nuriel.  
Those are some of the angelic names mentioned on the SH fandom wiki-page.  
Munkar - in Islamic eschatology is one of the angels that test the faith of the dead in their graves and the English translation would be the Denied.  
Nuriel in Jewish mythology is the angel of hailstorms and translates as “fire of the Lord”.  
Think what you may of it :) Pirate ships in this AU have angelic names, because, well, they are all stollen from the Clave, ha!

*

Alec was dying.  
He tried to hide on the lower desks first, but with each passing day, it was harder and harder for him to move around the ship. A huge ship. Staying on the upper deck allowed him to scan the horizon in hopes of seeing another vessel. Why was a pirate sailing a huge ship like that all alone?   
He had to think, baffled for a moment, his brain all clouded and slow because of days without food and water. They’ve captured a pirate.  
It was easy enough, Alec wasn’t even the one boarding the ship, he stood there and watched as two other soldiers escorted the pirate over to the Nuriel. According to Captain Starkweather, the man was a notorious criminal, who was wanted not only for piracy, but for witchcraft and heresy. He was, supposedly, part of Raphael Santiago’s crew, which sounded far-fetched, seeing how he was the only person on board of his ship.  
Alec didn’t recognise the man, which was also weird on itself, as he has spent endless hours pouring over whatever information was available on Santiago’s crew.  
The pirate put up a good fight, but did’t really stand a chance, what with him somehow manning the ship alone. The vessel wasn’t that big, but must have required more people to handle it. There was no one else on board. Alec watched the man pass him, face bloodied, the simple white shirt he was wearing ruined, ripped in several places and red with blood too. He was sporting an amused smirk though, as if the situation didn’t bother him in the slightest.  
He was shackled and tied to the main mast, looked them all over as if he owned the place and then locked eyes with Alec.  
Alec remembered feeling uneasy, looking at the man. He seemed Alec’s age and was probably rather handsome under all the blood and dirt. His eyes seemed to shine with something barely concealed, and he winked at Alec, as if they were sharing a secret, before turning to Captain Starkweather and promptly spitting out a venomous remark.  
Alec didn’t know why, but he knew then that that day was no ordinary hunt. The pirate seemed crazy. He aggravated the captain more and more, his disdain and contempt for the hunters obvious with his every word. The captain demanded to know his name, and the pirate readily refused.  
The captain demanded to know the whereabouts of Raphael Santiago, and the pirate laughed in his face.  
So Captain Starkweather ordered to torture the man.  
Alec’s world has gone to shit over a crazy pirate and his own demand for justice.  
He couldn’t stand there and watch them torture someone. There were procedures to follow, a code of conduct that the Clave designed specifically for apprehending such criminals.  
Alec refused to take part and demanded a fair trial.  
It was Captain Starkweather’s turn to laugh.  
The sun was shining, hot and merciless, the air around was dry, and there was no wind.  
For the first time in three years since he’s first set sails, the ocean was as calm as a sleeping child.  
He’d heard stories of course.  
The sea was never kind or forgiving, for it was not an entity, even if most sailors viewed it as one. People considered the pirate stories to be the scariest, talking about their viciousness and cruelty, calling them the danger that lurked in open waters, but he’s always known better.  
Pirates were people, and people could be bargained with, people could be fought and over-powered, people could be reasoned with.  
The sea was indifferent.  
He was dying, he knew that well enough. He hasn’t had anything to drink for the last five days. He hasn’t had anything to eat for even longer.  
The worst part was the knowledge that the crew that left him behind, would get to the nearest port and call him the casualty of sickness or, worse, a traitor, deserter, soldier-turned-pirate. There were too many of stories of that for people to doubt it. His family would never know the truth.  
If he had any strength left, he’d break something in fury.  
His sharp sister would suspect something. It would crush her, and she’d refuse to let it go until, eventually, it will destroy her poor heart.  
He was dying, but all he was scared of was the thought of his Isabelle going mad with grief or worse, try to find the truth and get hurt in the process. The news would no doubt make her world crumble. To lose another brother, and so soon after Jace...  
Alec was lying in the shadows over the highest deck, the one with the steering wheel, his eyes closed. He thought his ears were ringing, but logically he knew, it was the headache setting in.  
The crew, the pirate hunters as they were called, the soldiers of the Clave as they were known, abandoned him readily enough. His captain didn’t take well his refusal to torture a captured man. He didn’t take well him standing up for the poor bastard and demanding a fair trial.  
Captain- what was his name? Captain Starkweather, yes, he ordered to abandon the pirate vessel that they’ve seized, but not before anything functioning on board was destroyed.  
Captain Starkweather was a vicious bastard.  
Even if the wind had picked up, Alec wouldn’t be able to sail, cursed to drift and die a slow death.  
He closed his eyes trying to focus on his spiralling mind.  
His name was Alexander Lightwood. He was a soldier of the Clave. He wouldn’t die abandoned by his crew like some unwanted pet.  
He wouldn’t let them…  
It was getting harder to breathe.  
He was dizzy, and everything around him was hot and dry, and his skin seemed like paper, and he felt his mouth resemble a dried out fruit. He knew he was dying, even though he didn't really feel like it anymore. He was just tired. His muscles stopped actually aching the day before, and his stomach seemed to have settled with the absence of food. He was just so god damn tired. Surely, if he just rested for a bit, he'd be able to get up and scout the horizon one more time. He just needed to close his eyes.  
A lone bird was circling above him, and Alec thought, if the bastards had left him anything resembling a weapon, he’d have shot it down already, probably, only prolonging his inevitable death. He still would have fought to stay alive.  
Before sliding into the sweet embrace of the enclosing darkness, he also thought of his siblings. They'd fight too, tooth and nail, just like Jace fought his last day on duty. Just like Izzy fought every day proving wrong anyone who expected any less from her for being a lady.  
God, how he missed them both.  
He just needed to rest, and then, of course, he'd get up and he'd fight, and he'd survive. For them he'd do anything, really.  
Right after he rested...

*

  
When he came to, the first thing he noticed was the movement. The ship was moving steadily, the waves rocking it back and forth. There was a cold cloth over his head, and someone was humming lightly, the tune repetitive, one of those songs you’d hear stumbling in a tavern close to midnight when everyone was drunk and happy.  
Alec opened his eyes. It was still hard to breathe, but it was comparatively better. The sheets underneath him were smooth and cooling on the skin, and he didn’t feel like he was about to rip in half with the next movement.  
He tried to sit, but his body seemed all limp and ached all over, so he fell back with a weak helpless moan.  
The humming stopped.  
“You’re awake,” a voice announced, and then there was a man next to him, helping him up gently.  
He made sure Alec was sitting comfortably and handed him a wooden cup, the cloth was discarded carelessly.  
“Drink that, but slowly, mhm,” the man said not letting go of the cup in case Alec’d drop it. “There you go, you should be back on your feet in no time.”  
Alec gulped and promptly broke into a coughing fit. The man waited patiently and then gave him some more water.  
Finally, Alec managed to take a proper breath and look around.  
“Where am I?” he asked, his voice hoarse as if he’s eaten a bucket of sand, “Who are you?”  
“I’ll tell you,” the man promised, “but try to not freak out, hm?”  
Alec looked back at him apprehensively. He couldn’t do much, obviously, but the word choice on itself seemed suspicious enough.  
The man wasn’t dressed as a sailor. He looked more like one of the young lords that frequented salons and high-class dinners, but not just any lord, an eccentric one at best. The waistcoat over his undershirt had elaborate embroidery all over and the colour seemed most unusual, almost purple. His breeches were only a shade darker. And there was a bright red justaucorp draped over the back of his chair.  
Only people that dressed like that at sea were pirates. Their grand fuck-you to the upper-classes that enforced the clothing separation so much.  
“This vessel is known as the Munkar,” the man said, watching for his reaction. “It’s captained by-”  
“Raphael Santiago,” Alec said slowly.  
He knew of that ship alright. Raphael Santiago was a notorious pirate. Young and ruthless, and scary, or so people said. His crew was part of the armada that stormed Tortuga three years ago.  
He was one of the pirates behind Jace’s death.  
He was the one Starkweather was after.  
“You’ve gone so very pale, dear,” the man said carefully. “I assume, you’re familiar with the name.”  
Alec nodded weakly.  
His head was starting to hurt again.  
“Are you- You aren’t him though,” Alec said slowly, focusing on the man’s face.  
His features were sharp, skin slightly tanned, bright almost golden eyes contoured with black lines. His expression was careful, though, as if he was trying not to scare Alec off. Not like he could do much in his current state, but nonetheless.  
Alec thought he looked vaguely familiar, but he was certain he hasn’t seen any pictures of him before.  
“No,” the man said softly. “But I travel with Raphael often and as a favour to me he agreed to circle back and save you. And we were also looking for you before, so there.”  
“But I don’t know you,” Alec said. “And how did you even- there was no wind, how did you get close-”  
“Well,” the man cleared his throat, “all the legends are true, aren’t they? You’ve probably heard rumours of Raphael’s crew.”  
Alec nodded. Of course, he had. There were a great many things passed around about that crew. It was said that the notorious crew of the Munkar made a deal with the Devil and exchanged their souls for the wind to always play to their favour. It was said a witch was sailing with them, turning the tide whenever Santiago needed it, that there was no way the Munkar has escaped that many ordeals with not a scratch on it with no magical intervention. The man that they’ve captured was the one accused of it! It was said that captain Raphael Santiago wasn’t even human, that the seas themselves spurted him out, and that he couldn’t step on dry land because of it fearing horrible death.  
That last one was called a curse, and some believed Santiago also spread it onto his crew.  
“Some of them are true,” the man said, “we have our way around the water.”  
Alec laid back down slowly watching him, as he continued.  
“Your crew abandoned you when you tried to do the right thing. That’s no way to die.”  
“How do you know that?”  
“Don’t you recognise me?” the man chuckled and turned his face left and right as if that way Alec’d see him better.  
Alec squinted for a moment and then stared, eyes wide in shock. It couldn’t be-  
No wonder he didn’t recognise him. The man in front of him was dressed to the nines, all soft smiles and smooth voice. Last time Alec has seen him was a bit short of a week ago, and then he was strapped to a mast, clothes ripped, face bloodied, about to be tortured for whatever Captain Starkweather thought he could get out of him and grinning manically about it.  
“How did you-”  
“I have my ways,” the man said with another smile. It should have looked sinister, but Alec was right, the man wasn’t hard to look at.  
“But I was very impressed with your courage.”  
Alec huffed, “A lot of good that did me.”  
“Oh, believe me, it did!” the man took his hand gently, his excitement barely contained, “It is so very rare these days for a hunter to show even a modicum of mercy towards a pirate, but you didn’t just do that, you stood against your whole crew in order to protect, well, me! And you didn’t even know me!”  
“I still don’t, to be fair,” Alec said weakly.  
“I knew you’d make a fine addition to our crew,” the man ignored his jab. “We were looking so very hard for you, you’ll have to forgive my excitement. You’re everything I’ve hoped for and then some!”  
That made Alec eyeball him again, with suspicion this time. He thought he might have heard him wrong.  
“Sorry, did you just?”  
It was like the man was having two conversations with Alec at once, both out loud.  
“Ah,” the man exclaimed as if he just realised the sheer scale of Alec’s confusion, “right!”  
He turned to the door and snapped his fingers. Blue sparks flew out and floated right through the room, towards the corridor. Alec’s eyes bulged.  
“Your captain accusing me of witchcraft?” the man said innocently. “I’m a warlock. I’m one of the reasons the Munkar is so successful in her voyages!”  
“That’s… magical,” Alec said, as he followed the sparks that floated right through the wooden door.  
“Why, thank you, Alexander,” the man said, obviously rather pleased with himself.  
“I still don’t even know your name,” Alec said.  
It was hardly fair, because the way the man pronounced his name sounded borderline indecent, and Alec was not ready to explore that at the moment.  
Before his magical saviour had a chance to answer though, the door burst open letting in a dishevelled looking man with an almost manic expression on his face.  
“Magnus! What ha-”  
Alec thought he stopped breathing. The man was blond and heaving, and his clothes looked all dirty as if he was busy cleaning a canon or something before bursting in, there was stubble on his chin that would have made him almost unrecognizable if not for his bright, mismatched eyes.  
It was Jace. It couldn’t be, but it was.  
“Alec!”  
Alec was still staring, when Jace wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, words pouring out of him in endless nonsense. How he couldn’t believe they’ve met again. How he’s missed Alec and Izzy. How he didn’t believe his eyes when Magnus brought him on board.  
“You’re alive,” Alec said, grasping at his dirtied shirt, hugging him back, “Jace, you’re alive.”  
His head seemed empty, his ears were ringing, but compared to the terror he has felt not two days ago faced with inevitable death, the joy seemed almost less bearable. He was breathing in a hastened gulps, and he didn’t think he’d ever let go. He didn’t think it was possible.  
Jace was alive.  
Alec didn’t care how; he didn’t even care if it was all a magic trick.  
The pure relief made him feel as if he was about to explode into a million pieces, too full to contain it.  
“Man, are you crying?” Jace asked, finally, looking into his face, his own eyes dump. “You look exactly the same!”  
“Starved and close to death?” Alec chuckled, whipping at his eyes. “God, I can’t believe you’re here.”  
Then he realised something else.  
“And you’re a pirate now,” he said slowly.  
Jace nodded enthusiastically, completely oblivious to Alec’s sudden discomfort.  
“Yeah, well, look at you! A soldier of the Clave! Mom must be very proud of you, Alec.”  
Alec scoffed despite himself.  
“Lots of good that did me,” he muttered. “So, the pirate thing?”  
“Man, I’ve been trying to track you down for ages now!” Jace kept patting his shoulders as if he was worried Alec was doing to dissolve into thin air the second he let go. “Raphael is a dick, but he saved my life that day on Tortuga.”  
Magnus coughed and muttered, “That’s Captain Santiago, Chase.”  
Jace waved him off, “Yeah, Captain Santiago is a dick,” he backtracked, “but he saved me. By the time I came to, we were half way across the world! Magnus here patched me up, and well- Let’s say there were a lot of reasons for me to stick around.”  
“Why didn’t you contact us? We thought you were killed that day,” Alec said.  
Mostly he was concerned Isabelle was going to murder their brother for real when she’d find out.  
“I couldn’t!” Jace’s expression fell. “I would have died that day, and it wasn’t a pirate that struck the blow.”  
Magnus – who, apparently, wasn’t just magical and nicely dressed, but had an unusual name to go with it – cleared his throat, making both men look up.  
“As heart-warming as I find that reunion,” he said, and his wide smile was bright evidence of that, “Alexander here should get some rest before Raphael decides to make an appearance.”  
Jace groaned. “You’re gonna hate that guy,” he promised.  
“How dare you,” Magnus muttered, he was still smiling though. “He did take Alexander on board!”  
“Only because you asked him,” Jace said surly. “Raphael would start a fucking war if you hinted at one.”  
He rolled his eyes for good measure.  
Magnus waved him off.  
“Nonsense,” he snapped his fingers, and another cup floated into his hands, “Raphael knows better than that. Here, drink this, Alexander.”  
He handed the cup over, and Alec took it absent-mindedly, too fascinated with the exchange. Jace seemed completely at ease with both Magnus and his magic.  
Last time they spoke, Jace claimed he’d hunt down the Dumah, which was another notorious pirate ship, and re-claim her for the Clave, and now here he was, obviously, distracted from some kind of work, talking to a pirate with the same brashness and cockiness that he had three years ago.  
They bickered, while Alec drank whatever was in the cup. It tasted like tea, but immediately he felt an urge to lay down and close his eyes.  
“One day Raphael will snap at you for your insubordination.”  
“He can bite me,” Jace grinned. “I’m too precious for this crew!”  
“That can be arranged,” Magnus muttered with an eye-roll.  
Then he noticed Alec’s sleepy blinking and shooed at Jace.  
“Time to let Alexander sleep, Chase.”  
“Not my name,” Jace scoffed as if it was some kind of an old joke, then turned to Alec and gave him another hug. “I’ll come later and we’ll talk, alright, buddy? You should listen to your doctor and rest more.”  
Alec nodded, his eyelids heavy already. Jace left, leaving Magnus, who busied himself with adjusting Alec’s blanket.  
“You’re very kind,” Alec mumbled and sighed. “That’s nice.”  
He didn’t realise it before the tea, but he was exhausted. The emotional wreck that was dropped onto him in a matter of several days was a bit too much even for someone trained to endure from his very childhood.  
Magnus smiled at him yet again. He had a very nice smile, when there was no blood smeared across his face.  
“The easiest thing in the world, Alexander,” he seemed to develop a fascination with Alec’s name.  
Alec didn’t really mind.  
“Not true,” he countered, his eyes already closed. “The world is a cruel place.”  
“Oh,” Magnus petted his hair, which Alec found rather nice too, “cruel it may be, but it is also whatever we make of it, isn’t that right? You’ve found your brother today.”  
“More like,” Alec mumbled, “he found me. And you. You found me.”  
“That’s right,” Magnus said softly. “I do hope you’d stay with us. Not that we can keep you, but Jace is here, isn’t he? Besides, the Clave’ve probably already branded you a traitor. Wouldn’t you like to restore your good name?”  
There was no answer, so he looked down to find Alec quick asleep. Magnus huffed softly, still stroking Alec’s hair.  
He couldn’t wait for all the adventures this promised to bring along.

*

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'm not a native speaker, so any mistakes pointed out would be greatly appreciated, but like, please, be gentle with me :)  
You can find me being weird on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/zhongmukuikui) or [Tumblr](https://yuncifang.tumblr.com/) and message for a chat~


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